Well water in Leelanau County, Michigan

In Leelanau County, 3% of 31 tested well samples exceeded the EPA limit for nitrate (10 mg/L), based on public data from USGS Water Quality Portal.

128 test results across 10 contaminants from at least 17 wells, 1979 to 1985; nitrate has the most at 31. Data refreshed September 15, 2026.

Compiled by Nick at Well Water Nerd from public records. How these pages are built

An estimated 17,008 people in Leelanau County get their drinking water from a private well, per USGS 2015 county water use. That is about 77% of residents.

Separately, the USGS national arsenic model estimates that 11% of the 17,008 people on private wells in Leelanau County draw water above 10 ug/L (the model's range is 7% to 17%), from geology and well depth rather than local tests.

What individual samples found

Each row summarizes every public sample for that contaminant inside Leelanau County. Above limit means above the EPA maximum contaminant level; where EPA has no enforceable limit, the row shows a health guideline or nuisance level instead.

Contaminant	Above limit	Samples	Detected	Median	Highest	Limit
Nitrate 1979 to 1985	3%	31	77%	0.26	11	10 mg/L EPA limit
Fluoride 1979 to 1985	0%	10	90%	0.1	0.7	4 mg/L EPA limit
Chloride 1979 to 1985	no limit	21	100%	1.1	170	250 mg/L nuisance level
Sodium 1979 to 1985	no limit	21	100%	1.4	28	20 mg/L health guideline
Iron 1979 to 1985	no limit	10	100%	85	440	300 ug/L nuisance level
Manganese 1979 to 1985	no limit	10	90%	10	100	300 ug/L health guideline

Sampled fewer than 10 times, too few to summarize: Lead (9), Arsenic (9), Copper (4), Uranium (3).

Closer than the county

See the sampled wells near your address

The same records, drawn around one point: which wells within a few miles were sampled and what they found, how deep the wells next to you were drilled, and any leaking tank or cleanup site within a mile.

Check my address

What this means

The contaminants most often above their limit here are nitrate (3% of 31 samples). A well next door can differ sharply from yours because bedrock fractures, well depth and plumbing all matter, so these rates describe the area, not your tap.

Chloride, Iron, and Manganese are widespread in local groundwater. They are mainly a staining and taste problem, but high manganese also carries a health advisory for infants.

What to test for in Leelanau County

1
Nitrate
3% of 31 local samples were above the limit.
2
Coliform bacteria
Recommended for every private well, every year.
3
Copper
Detected in 100% of local samples.
4
Chloride
Detected in 100% of local samples.
5
Iron
Detected in 100% of local samples.
6
Fluoride
Detected in 90% of local samples.
7
Manganese
Detected in 90% of local samples.
8
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs)
9 leaking underground storage tank sites on record locally.
9
Metals panel
82 hazardous waste sites on record locally.

Test your Leelanau County well for nitrate, coliform bacteria and copper

Certified lab analysis of your own tap water, bottles and prepaid return shipping included. The Essential well panel covers arsenic, uranium, nitrate, lead, copper, manganese, iron, sodium and bacteria; radon and PFAS are add-ons.

Order the Tap Score well water test kit, from $209 Already tested? Upload the report

Just want bacteria checked first? Tap Score coliform and E. coli test, $99. Coliform and E. coli are the tests every well needs every year.

Want a quick look before paying for a lab? Home well water test strips on Amazon check hardness, iron, pH and nitrate in minutes. They are a screen, not a result: arsenic, bacteria, uranium and PFAS need a certified lab.

Affiliate links: the merchant pays us a commission and the price is the same for you. It does not change what the data above says. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

Where to get a well tested in Michigan: certified labs, state programs and prices.

Already have results back? Get your lab report read against the Leelanau County numbers, $29. Every line explained, ranked by what matters, with the fix for each.

Wells in Leelanau County

11,644 domestic wells in Leelanau County are on record with the state since 1965. 2% are drilled into bedrock, and the typical well is 102 feet deep (one in ten goes past 258 feet).

In a typical Leelanau County well, bedrock starts about 188 feet down, the median yield is 15 gallons per minute, <1% of wells yield under 3 gallons per minute and usually need a storage tank.

1960s

1,371

1970s

2,152

1980s

2,872

1990s

2,440

2000s

1,428

2010s

1,283

2020s

Find your own well's report

The state keeps the driller's report for most wells drilled since 1984. It tells you how deep your well is, where bedrock starts, and how much water it makes, which decides what treatment can work.

Open Wellogic (EGLE) and choose Water Well.
The record lists depth, casing, static water level, the pump test and the geologic log.

Michigan has required well records since 1966, so most drilled wells are on file.

The rock under Leelanau County

Silurian-Devonian aquifers

Carbonate-rock. Limestone and dolomite move water through cracks and solution channels, sometimes very fast. Bacteria and nitrate can travel from the surface to a well in days, so annual bacteria testing matters more here than most places; hardness is a given.

Classification from the USGS Principal Aquifers of the United States (national map, 2003 edition, GIS release 2015), read at the county centroid. A single well can sit in a different unit, especially near a boundary.

Official help in Michigan

Two places to start that are not selling anything: the state program that answers private well questions, and its list of labs certified to run drinking water tests. A certified lab is the difference between a result you can act on and a number.

Private Residential Water Well Testing, Michigan EGLE
Laboratory certification program, Michigan EGLE

Contamination sources on record in Leelanau County

Michigan EGLE records 9 leaking underground storage tank sites and 82 hazardous waste sites in Leelanau County, among 226 regulated sites in total. Groundwater does not follow property lines, so a well within a few hundred feet of one of these is worth testing for what that site could release.

9: leaking underground storage tank sitesGasoline and heating oil that leaked from tanks move through groundwater as benzene, MTBE and other volatile organic compounds.
82: hazardous waste sitesSolvents, degreasers and metals from industrial sites can travel far in fractured bedrock.
134: registered underground storage tank sitesRegistered tanks are regulated and inspected; they matter most when they are old or near a shallow well.
1: lined landfill or transfer facility

Treatment that fits the local profile

Nitrate

Point-of-use reverse osmosis; Anion exchange; Distillation

Iron

Oxidizing filter whole-house; Water softener (low levels); Aeration plus filtration

Systems we would look at first

Some links below are affiliate links. If you buy through one, the merchant pays us a commission at no extra cost to you. It does not change which products we list or what the data says.

For nitrate

Under-sink reverse osmosis system

under-sink or countertop, about $300

Look for NSF/ANSI 58 certification listing the contaminant you need removed.

For nitrate

Aquasana SmartFlow reverse osmosis

under-sink or countertop, about $225

Certified to NSF/ANSI 58 and 53 to reduce arsenic (96%, pentavalent), fluoride (90%), lead (99%), nitrate, nitrite and PFOA/PFOS at the kitchen tap, with a remineralizer.

For iron

Iron and manganese oxidizing filter

whole-house, at the point of entry, about $1,800

Air-injection or greensand media; fixes staining at the source.

Free, no obligation

Get on the list for a free in-home water test in Leelanau County

No water treatment company serves Leelanau County through Well Water Nerd yet. We are signing licensed companies on county by county: they test at your tap for free, walk you through the numbers, and quote treatment only if something needs fixing. Leave your details and you are first in line. Nothing is shared until a company joins for Leelanau County, and you get an email naming it first.

Common questions

How deep are wells in Leelanau County?

The typical domestic well in Leelanau County is 102 feet deep, based on 11,644 wells reported to the state since 1965. One in ten is deeper than 258 feet. 2% are drilled into bedrock.

How often should I test a private well in Leelanau County?

Test for bacteria and nitrate every year. Test once for arsenic, uranium, radon, fluoride, manganese and PFAS, then again every three to five years or after any change in taste, color, or plumbing.

Towns in Leelanau County

12 towns have fewer than 30 public samples and are included in the Leelanau County totals above rather than shown separately: Bingham township, Centerville township, Cleveland township, Elmwood charter township, Empire township, Glen Arbor township, Kasson township, Leelanau township, Leland township, Solon township, Suttons Bay township, Traverse City.

Counties near Leelanau County

Closest first. Groundwater does not stop at a line on a map, so the next county over is a fair second opinion.

Want the numbers themselves? Download the Michigan dataset as CSV, every county and town, with the sources named.

Sources

USGS Water Quality Portal: 128 samples in Leelanau County. Data from the Water Quality Portal, a service of USGS, EPA and USDA; groundwater samples collected by USGS and cooperators. Retrieved September 3, 2026.
USGS national arsenic model (Ayotte 2017): estimated share of 17,008 people on private wells in Leelanau County above 10 ug/L of arsenic, from geology, well depth and land use. County estimates of domestic well users with arsenic above 10 ug/L from the USGS national logistic regression model (Ayotte, Medalie and Qi, 2017), with private well population from the USGS 2015 county water-use compilation (Dieter and others, 2018). Retrieved September 15, 2026.
Michigan Wellogic well records: 11,644 well records in Leelanau County, 11,644 domestic. Water well records from Wellogic, the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy statewide well database. Only aggregates are shown; owner names and addresses are never stored. Retrieved September 16, 2026.
Michigan EGLE regulated sites: 226 regulated sites located in Leelanau County. Part 201 environmental contamination sites, underground storage tank facilities and Part 115 landfills from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy. Retrieved September 16, 2026.

Non-detects count as samples and are treated as zero when computing medians. Exactly at the limit counts as not above it. A sample belongs to the town containing the well's reported coordinates.